Brantford

BRANTFORD, a quick 40km west of Hamilton on Hwy-403, takes its name from Joseph Brant, an Iroquois chieftain who was one of the most intriguing figures of colonial Canada. Brant helped the British during the American War of Independence and, after their defeat, he and his followers were obliged to make a hasty exit from New York State before the Americans could take their revenge. The British stayed loyal to their ally (just about) and in 1784 Brant was ceded a large tract of land beside the Grand River on the site of what is today Brantford. European settlers reached the area in numbers in the 1850s and subsequently Brantford developed as a manufacturing centre churning out agricultural equipment by the wagon load. By the 1980s, however, the town was in decline as many of its factories and foundries went bust or relocated. Brantford still bears the scars of this de-industrialization, but a concerted effort has been made to breathe new life into the centre and, for the most part, this has been a success with a batch of new leisure facilities and shopping malls. For Canadians, Brantford is most famous as the home town of Wayne Gretzky, probably the greatest ice-hockey player of all time; for everyone else, the town is best known as being the one-time home of the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell.

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Trouble in the colonies – the life and times of Joseph Brant

Born in modern-day Ohio, Joseph Brant (1742–1807) – or Thayendanega – was a Mohawk leader, whose stepfather had close ties with the British. This connection was reinforced when Joseph’s sister, Molly, married the British Superintendent for Indian Affairs, William Johnson, who subsequently sponsored Brant’s college education. Brant learnt to read and write English, took to wearing European clothes and even became an Anglican and Freemason, but he had another life too, odd-jobbing as a member of Mohawk war parties. By the mid-1760s, Brant had established himself as a farmer in New York State and was so well regarded by the British that, in 1776, they took him to London, where he was presented to King George III and became something of a celebrity, the subject of a string of official portraits. In each of them, Brant is shown in a mix of European and aboriginal gear – typically, he carries a tomahawk and has a Mohawk hairdo, but wears a dress coat with a sash – an apt reflection of his twin loyalties. Duly impressed by the power and wealth of the imperial capital, Brant remained loyal to the British during the American War of Independence, his repeated, large-scale raids – and alleged savagery – earning him the soubriquet “Monster Brant” among the colonials.

After the war, when neither the British nor the Americans felt militarily secure, both sides tried to woo Brant, who became adept at playing the whites off against each other; despite his blood-curdling reputation, he was even invited to Philadelphia to meet President Washington in 1792. From the British, Brant secured a sizeable chunk of land beside the Grand River in modern-day Brantford, where his followers moved in 1784, but back in the US he was unable to protect his aboriginal allies from further American encroachment. Sensing failure, Brant withdrew to Burlington, near Hamilton, to live the life of a gentleman farmer (complete with servants and slaves) and it was here he died. In 1850, Mohawks carried Brant’s coffin the 55km from Burlington to Brantford’s Royal Chapel of the Mohawks.

The Mennonites of Kitchener–Waterloo and St Jacobs

The twin industrial cities of Kitchener and Waterloo hog a slab of flatland to the west of the Grand River. They have a distinctive pedigree, as the first white settlers to arrive in the area in numbers were the Mennonites, a tightly knit Protestant sect who migrated here in the 1790s from the US, where their pacifist beliefs had incurred the wrath of their neighbours during the American Revolution. Over the years, the Mennonites gradually drifted out of the twin cities and now own much of the farmland immediately to the north. They are unmistakeable, with the men wearing traditional black suits and broad-brimmed hats, or deep-blue shirts and braces, the women ankle-length dresses and matching bonnets, and many navigate the roads in black, horse-drawn buggies. Despite appearances, however, the Ontario Mennonites are far from a homogeneous sect – over twenty different groups are affiliated to the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). They all share certain religious beliefs reflecting their Anabaptist origins – the sole validity of adult baptism being crucial – but precise practices and dress codes vary from group to group: for instance, members of the traditional wing of the Mennonite movement, sometimes called Amish, own property communally and shun all modern machinery. To explain their history and faith, the MCC runs a small but intriguing interpretation centre, The Mennonite Story, at 1406 King St North (April–Dec Mon–Sat 11am–5pm & Sun 1.30–5pm; Jan–March Sat 11am–4.30pm & Sun 2–4.30pm; donation; t 519 664 3518, w stjacobs.com) in the village of ST JACOBS, just north of Waterloo via Hwy-85. Also in St Jacobs, along the short main street, are several Mennonite stores selling home-made farm produce – the maple syrup is simply magnificent. Mennonite traders are also prominent at the much-lauded Farmers’ Market, back in the centre of Kitchener on King Street East (Sat 7am–2pm; t 519 741 2287, w kitchenermarket.ca).

Kitchener’s Oktoberfest

In the early nineteenth century, German farmers followed the trail blazed by the Mennonites, settling here in Kitchener by the hundreds. The Mennonites had called their settlement Sand Hills, but the new arrivals renamed the place Berlin in 1826, changing it yet again during World War I to “Kitchener” (after the British field marshal) at a time when it was prudent to prove their patriotism. Today around sixty percent of Kitchener’s inhabitants are descendants of German immigrants, a heritage celebrated every year during Oktoberfest (w oktoberfest.ca), nine days of alcoholic stupefaction when even the most reticent of men can be seen wandering the streets in Lederhosen.